Dancing through Itzhak Perlman’s birthday klezmer concert was a joyous blast from my Yiddish past

When writing a review for a play you haven’t seen, you have to wait until the end of the show to start writing your piece.

But when you attend violinist Itzhak Perlman’s 80th birthday klezmer concert — featuring musicians from acclaimed klezmer bands like The Klezmer Conservatory Band and The Klezmatics — your review can anticipate several things:

A. At the end of the show, the audience will give gave Perlman a standing ovation that lasts for several minutes.

B. The audience will join the musicians in singing happy birthday to Itzhak.

And C. During the performance, members of the audience will sing along, clap and even dance to the pieces being played.

All of these things came to pass at the concert, which occurred at the Upper West Side’s ornate Beacon Theater on Sept. 29, and so muc